▶ Feds Approve Funding for Trolley Project

The Federal Transit Administration signed an environmental report requiring approval for the funding and construction of the Mid-Coast Trolley last week. 

The signed document, the Record of Decision, is one of two environmental reports that need to be approved in order to secure funding for the $2 billion project, according to an Oct. 17 Union-Tribune San Diego article. The second document, the Final Subsequent Environmental Impact Report, may be signed next month.

 According to the U-T article, construction is expected to begin late next year and service is expected to start in 2019. 

▶ Graduate Schools Gets New Name

The UCSD Office of Graduate Studies was renamed to the Graduate Division on Oct. 16, according to a campuswide email sent UCSD from the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs. 

The change was made in order to become consistent with other University of California campuses and to reflect the importance of graduate education at UCSD. Prospective graduate students can use the Graduate Division as a resource for information, while current students turn to the division to learn about financial support opportunities, professional development programs and dissertation preparation. 

The division provides up-to-date information and support for navigation through Academic Senate Regulations for faculty and staff and works with department graduate coordinators to facilitate administrative requirements that are necessary to keep students on track to graduate. 

▶ Campus Launches new Health Major

This fall, UCSD became the first University of California campus to introduce the Bachelor of Arts in Global Health. 

The new major integrates the Global Health minor, which was established in 2004. 

One of the requirements for both the major and the minor is the health field experience, which students can pursue domestically or abroad. It is affiliated with multiple on-campus organizations including the Center on Global Justice and the Blum Cross-Border Initiative, the Academic Internship, the International Center and the Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies. 

Students can utilize the major as a precursor to both health and non-health related fields or can choose to double major as some students, who were initially minoring in Global Health, have decided to do.